It will be ‘snowing’ nitrogen on Pluto for the next century

EXPECT a sharp frost on Pluto for the next 100 years. That is the forecast from an analysis suggesting the dwarf planet’s atmosphere has reached maximum pressure and will begin freezing nitrogen onto the surface.

Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere was first spotted in 1985 as astronomers watched the world pass in front of a distant star, an event known as an occultation. Since then, about a dozen occultations have been used to study its gassy layer, which has gradually grown in size over the past 30 years.